personable adj. (PUR sun uh bul) friendly; sociable. Salespeople must have personable dispositions.
pertinent adj. (PUR tuh nunt) relevant. We're talking about the weather, not football; please keep your remarks pertinent to the subject.
perturb vb. (pur TURB) to annoy or trouble. You perturb me with your constant requests for money.
peruse vb. (puh ROOZ) to look over or study carefully. Please peruse the contract at your leisure before signing.
pervade vb. (pur VAYD) to spread, penetrate, permeate. The odor of skunk pervades our neighborhood on trash night.
pervasive adj. (pur VAY siv) spreading throughout.
If not countered regularly by rational thought, racism will become pervasive.
perversion n. (pur VUR zshun) a sexual deviation. Some would call Hank's foot fetish a perversion, but others would just think it was silly.
petty adj. (PET ee) unimportant or trivial. I've got enough to worry about without you burdening me with petty demands.
petulant adj. (PECH uh lunt) moody and irritable.
Don't even think about asking your father for money when he is in such a petulant mood.
philanthropy n. (fil AN thruh pee) humanitari- anism; good deeds and charity. She will always be remembered for her generous philanthropy.
piece de resistance n. (PEE es de ray zee
STONSE) the crowning piece in a work, meal, etc. After our appetizer and salad, we were brought the piece de resistance, a feast of Main lobster and clams.
pious adj. (PI us) very religious; having a holier- than-thou attitude. I don't appreciate your pious attitude; what I choose to believe and how I choose to worship is my business.
piquant adj. (pee KAHNT) sharp to the taste. I like my salsa to be so piquant that my tongue feels about to burst into flame.
placate vb. (PLAY kayt) to pacify or soothe; to appease. In order to placate the screaming toddler, we gave him a cookie.
placid adj. (PLAS id) peaceful, tranquil. We told the pet store owner that any dog we bought would have to have a placid temperament, especially around children.
plaintive adj. (PLAYN tiv) expressing sadness. All the plaintive calls Bambi made in the forest would not bring back his mother.
platitude n. (PLAT i tood) a cliched remark given as if it is original or profound. The politician obviously hadn't studied our problems in depth because the best he could do was to spew glib platitudes.
platonic adj. (pluh TON ik) loving but not sexual. I
have a friend who is of the opposite sex, but our relationship is not physical—it's strictly platonic.
plausible adj. (PLAWZ uh bul) believable, possible. Joe's excuse of losing his homework to aliens wasn't plausible.
plead the Fifth in a legal or figurative sense, to plead the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, through which one refuses to testify (in court) in order to avoid incriminating oneself. Did I steal the last piece of Aunt Mary's cake? I plead the Fifth.
plethora n. (PLETH ur uh) an overabundance. This country produces a plethora of nonrecyclable trash.
poignant adj. (POYN yunt) touching; moving. The movie's poignant story tugged at my heartstrings.
polarize vb. (POH luh RIZE) to take opposite sides. The controversial issue has only served to polarize the candidates, with each taking an opposing viewpoint.
pontificate vb. (pon TIF uh kayt) to preach or lecture, particularly about one's own dogma. The industrialist continued to pontificate on the necessity of continued economic growth, but the environmentalists in the audience were buying none of it.
portent n. (POR tent) a sign of things to come. Black clouds on the horizon are a portent of an imminent storm.
postulate vb. (POS chuh layt) to assume without proof. Although we have no concrete evidence, it's easy to postulate that life exists on other planets.
pragmatic adj. (prag MAT ik) practical; real-world, as opposed to theoretical, We'll make this company competitive again through pragmatic means, not through wishful thinking and daydreams.
precedence n. (PRES uh duns) priority. In a tornado, safety must take precedence over comfort; stay down in your basement until the storm has passed.
precedent n. (PRES uh dunt) an example from the past (as in a case of law) used as a guideline for a similar occurrence, case, or development in the present. Last week's verdict did not set any precedents; two similar legal cases in 1937 and in 1950 had identical outcomes.
precipitate vb. (pri SIP i TAYT) to cause to happen, especially sooner than expected. Alcohol won't soothe tensions in a domestic dispute; in many instances it can precipitate violence.
preclude vb. (pree KLOOD) to prevent or render impossible. Locking firearms in a cabinet should preclude most young children from the possibility of an accidental shooting.
precocious adj. (pri KOH shus) unusually mature or advanced for one's age. The precocious tike was speaking three languages at the age of four.
precursor n. (pree KUR sur) that which comes before; a forerunner. The Internet is the precursor of a
preeminent adj. (pree EM i nunt) dominant and unsurpassed. In all categories of safety, the car we chose to buy is preeminent.
preempt vb. (pree EMPT) to displace or take the place of another. Unfortunately, the president's speech is going to preempt my favorite television show.
premonition n. (prem uh NISH un) a foreboding, hunch, or forewarning. I once had a horrible premonition that my local bridge was going to collapse, but it never did.